Garment bags are notorious types of luggage for carrying clothing, usually on hangers. The garment bags are made of flexible fabric material to permit the bags to be folded at least once to form a package the size and shape of a large suitcase for relatively easy carrying. Virtually all such garment bags include closure systems for holding the garment bag in this closed or folded condition. Such systems have included one or more buckles spanning the gap between the top and bottom ends of the bag to hold the bag in a U-shape condition.
More recently, a garment bag marketed by the Samsonite Corporation, Denver, Colo. has utilized the door hook that is normally provided on such bags to support the garment bag in its open condition from the top edge of a door and the like to be used alternately as a part of the closure system for the bag. In this garment bag, the door hook depends from a strap, chain or the like from top end of the garment bag. When used as the closure system, this chain or strap is extended from the top end of the folded bag towards the bottom end and inserted through a loop of webbing material riveted to an outside surface of the bottom end of the bag. Thus the door hook retained close to the bag, thus preventing the door hook from inadvertently becoming entangled or dragging on the floor. This system also eliminates the necessity for providing additional snap hooks, buckles, etc. to hold the bag in a closed condition.
However, the loops of webbing have been less than effective in retaining the hook under all conditions. Sometimes when the bag is jarred or less than optimum tension is placed on the hook such as when the garment bag is not fully packed with clothing, the hook will fall from its resting place in the webbing loop. Also, the riveted loop or loops do not present a very aesthetic configuration.
It has been also found that manufacture of this hook retaining loop is quite time consuming since it employs a number of manufacturing steps, specifically the cutting, stitching, riveting, etc.